The Brotherhood of St Laurence recently released a report their 'Financial Wellbeing in times of Insecurity' working paper. The paper provides a basis for a broader understanding of the factors that shape financial wellbeing and the capacity of individuals to experience economic security. In this post Dr Dina Bowman and Dr Marcus Banks from the Research and Policy Centre explore the paper's key findings.
Read MoreLast week marked the launch of the new Public Service Research Group (PSRG) at UNSW Canberra. PSRG has been established to partner with organisational clients to produce new insights into effective public service implementation and evaluation. Stephen Easton was at the launch and reports below. This post originally appeared on The Mandarin.
*Content warning: This post contains references to sexual violence.*
A recent Victorian court decision to release a teenager charged with sexual assault on strict bail conditions has prompted an outcry from Victoria Police and the state opposition. Today's post from an anonymous Australian lawyer challenges us to consider a more progressive legal and moral standpoint- from an anti-carceral feminist perspective, imprisonment for the sake of harsh punishment will not lead to the teenager's reform and rehabilitation.
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If you watch the news or read the papers, chances are you have heard about income inequality. The issue is complex and polarizing. But what does income inequality really mean? And what are the consequences? In this post, Uma Rani Amara, Senior Economist, and Marianne Furrer, Research Officer in the ILO’s Research Department unpack income inequality, how it affects people’s lives, and what can be done to reduce it. The original articles form a two-part series on the ILO's 'Work in Progress' blog.
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The 2017 Federal budget unveiled by the Coalition held many surprises, mainly in the efforts it went to achieve distance from the disastrous 2014 budget. With significant investment into education, health and housing, some even called it a ‘Labor light budget’. However, these positive inputs are offset by the increasingly punitive approach to people on welfare, contrary to what evidence indicates is effective policy. In today’s post Kathy Landvogt highlights some of the most concerning aspects of the government’s stance towards people on welfare and how it will set Australia back as the land of the ‘fair go.’ This blog originally appeared on the Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand web site.
Read MoreAre gender equality strategies developed by Australian Government departments robust enough to make the APS an employer of choice for women? In today's post, Sue Williamson and Meraiah Foley explore the exemplar strategies most likely to progress workplace gender equality and achieve real culture change. This article was originally published in The Mandarin.
Read MoreToday's post from Gareth Bryant from the University of Sydney and Ben Spies-Butcher from Macquarie University examines how changes in accounting methods have reshaped the politics of HECS since its introduction in 1989. This article was originally published on The Conversation.
Read MoreAs we await the release of the Australian Federal Budget, today's post reminds us of the human impact of government decisions and the importance of giving all citizens a voice. Deb Warr, Helen Dickinson and Sue Olney, together with Jen Hargrave, Pan Karanikolas, Vas Kasidis, Georgia Katsikis, Jasmine Ozge, Dave Peters, Cina Wheeler and Michelle Wilcox, have recently completed a study funded by the Melbourne Social Equity Institute, that examines service users' experiences of navigating the NDIS.
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Tuesday’s budget lock-up for the Victorian State budget revealed significant investment not only for direct family violence services but also for the inter-related services which work together to make women and children safer. In today’s blog, Tanya Corrie, of Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand, breaks down the numbers. Tanya is the Research & Policy Specialist for Financial Security and the acting Head of the Women’s Research, Advocacy & Policy (WRAP) Centre.
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On March 1st, the first of Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand’s Good Conversations[i] was held to discuss child support policies with an expert panel. Today’s policy piece provides a summary of the 7 primary questions on child support that were raised and why they are critical policy areas that need urgent addressing. Collectively, single mothers experience poverty at an alarming rate, and Australia’s child support system is partly to blame. This summary has been co-authored by Kathy Landvogt (Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand), Terese Edwards (National Council for Single Mothers and their Children - NCSMC), and Kay Cook (Swinburne University).
Read MoreThe Government recently tabled its State of the Environment Report 2016 Overview in Parliament. While our national parks and other public lands are generally considered the focal point for conservation efforts, the Overview reinforces the continued need for private land to deliver biodiversity conservation outcomes. In this post Drs Benjamin Cooke and Katie Moon explore opportunities to improve policy outcomes through re-engagement with the ethic of environmental stewardship.
Read MoreThere has been considerable discussion about the trial of cashless debit cards currently underway in Ceduna and Kununurra. With the Commonwealth apparently ready to announce an expansion of the trials in the May budget, David Tennant explores what that would mean and why is it relevant to regional centres like Shepparton.
Read MoreIn this review of Max Harris's manifesto for a new progressive politics, The New Zealand Project, Luke Craven examines tensions between advocates of more radical and pragmatic approaches and asks, in the desired move towards more a values-based polity, whose values are being represented?
Read MoreA recent professional symposium held in Melbourne presented research findings on the often hidden toll experienced by women whose partners perpetrate online child sexual abuse. Here Zoë Goodall, a graduate of the University of Melbourne and Media Coordinator for PartnerSPEAK, urges for a policy rethink in the area of family violence and victims of crime.
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Over the weekend, thousands participated in the March for Science, both in Australia and globally. Influenced by the Women’s March, the March for Science has struggled with reflecting the highly diverse scientific community. In today’s post, sociologist Zuleyka Zevallos provides a brief history of the controversies, explains why diversity in science is important, and provides practical suggestions for moving forward on stronger footing.
Read MoreFrom the online portal to enrolment targets to workforce shortages, the implementation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme has been plagued with difficulties. But A/Prof Helen Dickinson (@DrHDickinson) cautions that we don't yet have enough information to make definitive statements about success and failure. We should expect some challenges to arise as the NDIS is implemented, and this doesn’t mean that the idea is fundamentally flawed.
Read MoreGovernments wringing too many savings out of outsourced risk is threatening the commercial and political sustainability of the whole enterprise, warns one of Australia’s top government contracting experts. For the Australia and New Zealand School of Government's Prof Gary Sturgess, it’s becoming a ‘game of chicken’ where the players want out.
Read MoreWhat's a program? What's program management? Differences in how we use these words matter, argues UNSW Canberra's Dr Raymond Young - and the project management discipline needs to adapt its language use if it wants to help government deliver better results.
Read MoreCollaboration is a popular and often routine exercise for the public, private and community sectors to develop a common purpose, as well as co-design and/or co-deliver policies or services. But the costs of these interactions are often underestimated. Robyn Keast, Michael Charles and Piotr Modzelewski argue that a detailed cost-benefit analysis should be undertaken before undergoing collaboration.
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